Romans 13:11-14, “Clothing Yourself With the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Read Romans 13:11-14... Christians are to be like Christ, as we put off the old self, and put on Christ, like removing soiled clothing and putting on clean clothing.

It is imperative (v. 11), that we understand the return of our Lord is closer now than when we first believed. We must be diligent and obedient and alert, not like someone in a sleepy stupor, for the unbelieving world is more and more opposed to Christ and to those who serve Him.

When Paul says we should understand the present time, he is using the Greek word kairos (season, era, age) not chronos (calendar, clock, chronological).

Do you notice the urgency in Paul’s words? He is not talking to unbelievers, but to Christians who are living like unbelievers, those who are spiritually dead.

Pauls says, it is not the time for spiritual glaucoma or for spiritual narcolepsy, it is time to wake up, to be alert, and to see the crisis at hand.

Paul says here (v. 11), salvation [eternity with Christ in heaven] is closer now than when you first believed in Him. When a person is saved in Christ, he is justified before God through Christ, he is also sanctified [set apart] to be conformed to the likeness of Christ, ultimately to be glorified [given a new eternal body], in order to live with God forever in heaven.

Until Jesus returns, we are to live for Him, looking forward to His return (see Titus 2:11-13; James 5:7-8; 1Peter 4:7-8).

As Christians we are acquitted of our sins, because Christ took our punishment, paying our sin debt in full, and we ought to then live live for Him (see 2Timothy 4:7-8).

We know salvation is closer, because it can’t be getting farther away, the time of the return of Christ grows nearer and nearer, and we need to be seeking to do what Christ told His first disciples to do (Acts 1:7-8), to be His witnesses throughout the world, to the ends of the earth.

Notice , Paul says (v. 12a) it is getting late, night is almost gone and the new day is almost here. Day and light are symbolic of the spiritual light of Christ and the children of God; night and darkness are symbolic of the deeds of darkness and the children of the devil; and sometimes it is difficult to tell who is who, but at God’s judgment they will be exposed (see Matthew 7:22-23).

Paul tells us (v. 12b) to take off, stop doing those things that are offensive to God and representative of those who are in darkness (see 1Thessalonians 5:1-8). Ephesians 4:22-24, “put off [lay aside] our old self which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; be made new in the attitude of our minds; by putting on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”
Colossians 2:6-7, “just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught,” Colossians 3:9-10, “you have taken off your old self with its practices, and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.”

We have been made right with God through Christ, and we are “in” Christ (see Romans 8:1; 2Corinthians 5:17).

At the moment of genuine salvation you are (Galatians 3:27) “baptized into Christ,” and “clothed with Christ,” i.e., you have put on Christ, and you should begin to look more like Him, and less like the person you were before coming to Christ.

We are justified through Christ (just if I’d never sinned), and sanctified, set apart for His glory and honor, as we grow in righteousness, serving Him.

Paul uses the illustration of taking off and putting on clothing, symbolic of our sanctification, it is a process.

Paul instructs us to put on the armor of light, the full armor of God (see Ephesians 6:11-17), for God is light and there is no darkness in Him, all those who follow Christ walk in the light of God (see 1John 1:5-7; 2:6).

If you have put on Christ, you are to be living for Him. If you have been made new on the inside, it should show on the outside, where you interact with others, and where people see you.

Christians should behave (v. 13) like those who belong to the day, as children of the light, not of the darkness; we must not be associated with drunkenness , sexual immorality, or lewd behavior, as those who belong to the night. Neither should we be constantly bickering, wanting our own way, or envying one another, for these create divisions in the church, causing us to look like those who do not know or serve God.

Instead (v. 14) we are to live like children of God, imitating Christ, removing anything that is displeasing to Him, so that we look and act more and more like Christ (see Ephesians 5:1-11).

We are to love one another as Christ loves us, and this is especially true today, when such adverse hatred for God is openly displayed by those who belong to the world. no wonder God commands us to continually come together for prayer, study, and fellowship (see nHebrews 10:24-25).

We are to encourage one another to earnestly seek to bring everything captive to the influence and the authority of Christ (see Colossians 2:8-10).

If you genuinely confess Christ as Lord, and trust Him as Savior, you eternally belong to God, and you are to live by the Word of God as you (Galatians 5:16), “walk by the Spirit, not carrying out the desires of the flesh.”

We live in a time, an age [kairos] when prayer and the Bible have been removed from the classroom, the public square, the market place, the government, and even the so-called church, which is today full of compromise, false teaching, false teachers, and corruption, as is reflected in its godless behavior, beliefs, practices, and preaching.

There has never been a more urgent time, then now, for true Christians to put on the Lord Jesus Christ: to feed upon, obey, live out, and proclaim the Word of God, in a manner that brings honor, glory and praise to God.
Ephesians 5:1-2, “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly love children, and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. 8 “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord, live as children of light, in all goodness, righteousness and truth.”

Pastor Mike <‘((((><